"That's our job to look out for ourselves" - 23XI Co-owner defends Tyler Reddick's move that ended Bubba Wallace's Dover race

The race at the Wurth 400 at Dover International Speedway didn't go as planned for the 23XI Racing team.

23XI Racing teammates Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick were left in a conflict when Reddick's three-wide move to Wallace's #23 Toyota knocked the latter out of the race, resulting in a DNF for two consecutive races.

However, 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin defended the move by the #45 Camry driver Reddick. Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing, went on to win the race at the one-mile concrete track at Dover last Sunday (April 28).

In an episode of the Actions Detrimental with Denny Hamlin podcast, Hamlin shared his opinion when asked if Tyler Reddick was at fault for Bubba Wallace's wreck.

"It's different because I just know how I would feel at JGR right and that is that I can't complain if one of my teammates makes a move three wide and puts me three wide like they're trying to win you know our job as teammates is to work together and then on Sunday we go race," Hamlin said. (58:35)

Hamlin also said that if any other driver had been at Reddick's place, he would probably have done the same. He added that it's part of their job.

"Should Tyler say oh I'm not going to go three wide I'm not going to take this run because Bubba's in the next lane I would say no because I do it to my teammates they do it to me because that's our job and that is to you know look out for ourselves and look out for our teams that we respectively drive for you know Dover's just a weird place where it's it's tough to go three wide especially through the first corner there it's always a little sketchy for sure.

"I think it's a 50-50 shot that he actually knew Bubba is in the next lane up," added Hamlin.

The 43-year-old Hamlin continued by saying that if the #71 Chevy of Zane Smith got out of the way as it was multiple laps down and let the lead lap cars pass, it would have been better for #23 driver Bubba Wallace and other cars around them.

The #45 driver for 23XI Reddick started the race in high spirits with the season's first victory at Talladega on April 22nd.

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A brief look at Tyler Reddick's 2024 NASCAR season

Tyler Reddick is a two-time Xfinity Series champion, winning consecutively in 2018 and 2019.

The 28-year-old currently competes full-time for 23XI Racing, driving the #45 Toyota Camry. With the win at Talladega last week (April 22), he secured his first win of the season and sixth of his career.

The #45 driver sits at P5 in the overall Cup Series Standings, 56 points behind table leader Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.

Of the two full-time drivers for 23XI Racing, Reddick has a spot already in the playoffs. Meanwhile, his teammate Bubba Wallace with two finishes outside the top 30, has a slim chance of qualifying for the playoffs.